Author Archives: R. Scott Clark

About R. Scott Clark

R. Scott Clark is the President of the Heidelberg Reformation Association, the author and editor of, and contributor to several books and the author of many articles. He has taught church history and historical theology since 1997 at Westminster Seminary California. He has also taught at Wheaton College, Reformed Theological Seminary, and Concordia University. Read more» He has hosted the Heidelblog since 2007.

The Church Needs Prophets, Priests, And Kings (But Not Personality Types And Tests)

by on May 6, 2020

Through a good part of redemptive history, certainly since the inauguration of the Old Covenant (c. 16th century BC) there were three offices in the church: prophet (Deut 18:15–22), priest (Deut 18:1–14; 33:8–11), and king (1 Sam 8:19–22). The Old Testament prophets spoke God’s Word to the Old Testament national church and to the OT church in exile. The priests received the offerings of the people and mediated for them to God, and made the appointed offerings on behalf of the people. The kings succeeded the judges and ruled Israel or Israel and Judah) until the exile. Continue reading →

The Church And The Virus: Is This An Acts 5:29 Moment?

by on May 3, 2020 | 58 Comments

Introduction The Covid-19 Shutdown of 2020 has begun to produce a reaction, at least in the USA. Recently we have seen large-scale demonstrations in several states. The various orders issued by governors, mayors, and county executives to restrict movement has produced a . . . Continue reading →

A Brief Note On “Elements” And “Circumstances”

by on May 2, 2020 | 13 Comments

While we, some of us anyway, are still on Covid-19 lockdown and unable to gather for public worship it is perhaps a time to think about the nature of public worship. Our patterns of life have been disrupted. I suppose that some . . . Continue reading →

What Is Astroturfing And Why Does It Matter?

by on May 1, 2020

Sharyl Atkisson is a former reporter for CBS, CNN, PBS and other mainstream outlets. She hosts a weekly television news magazine program, Full Measure. In this episode she defines and explains the effect (and affect) of the manipulation of social media (and traditional media) known as “astroturfing.” Continue reading →

The Law Of Christ Is The Moral Law

by on April 27, 2020 | 8 Comments

In his provocative March (2020) essay, Matt Smethurst asked “Why Don’t Christians Keep the Jewish Law?” He reminds us that the “Bible is a thoroughly Jewish document,” a note that has been regularly (and properly) sounded in modern biblical studies. From this premise, he asks the provocative question before us. He notes that “God’s people kept it for centuries in the Old Testament. What happened?” He answers by observing that Jesus, the Jewish Messiah and the Son of God kept and completed “the law of God in his people’s place. Jesus embodied in himself everything the law demanded.” Smethurst recognizes two functions of the “Jewish law:”  “God designed the law both to instruct and guide his people and also to expose their sin and need for a Savior.” In the magisterial Protestant traditions we have spoken of these as the normative (third use) and the pedagogical use. Historically there was also a “civil use,” the function of which, according to Louis Berkhof, is to restrain sin and to serve “the purposes of God’s common grace in the world at large.” According to Smethurst, the “Jewish law” is a signpost that is no longer needed now that the “new covenant and new age ushered in by a new king” has arrived. As he puts it, “The signage of the law, therefore, can be taken down. It served its purpose.” Continue reading →

Harrison Perkins On Difference Between The Covenants Of Works And Grace In 10 Minutes And 16 Seconds

by on April 27, 2020

For all who rely on works of the law are under a curse; for it is written, “Cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the Book of the Law, and do them.” Now it is evident that no one is justified before God by the law, for “The righteous shall live by faith.” But the law is not of faith, rather “The one who does them shall live by them.” Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree”—so that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promised Spirit through faith. To give a human example, brothers: even with a man-made covenant, no one annuls it or adds to it once it has been ratified. Now the promises were made to Abraham and to his offspring. It does not say, “And to offsprings,” referring to many, but referring to one, “And to your offspring,” who is Christ. This is what I mean: the law, which came 430 years afterward, does not annul a covenant previously ratified by God, so as to make the promise void. For if the inheritance comes by the law, it no longer comes by promise; but God gave it to Abraham by a promise (Gal 3:10–18; ESV). Continue reading →

What Are The Two Kinds Of Covenants In Scripture? Harrison Perkins Explains in 7 Minutes and 24 Seconds

by on April 23, 2020 | 3 Comments

Bible readers have always noticed that God made covenants explicitly with Noah, Abarahm, Moses, and David. Several second-century Christians wrote at some length about the covenant that God made with Adam after the fall (Gen 3:15) and since before Augustine Christians have seen that Scripture implicitly records a covenant with Adam before the fall. Then, of course, there is the New Covenant. How should we think about these covenants and how should we understand their relation to one another? Dr Harrison Perkins explains. Continue reading →

The Coming Attack On Homeschooling And Educational Freedom?

by on April 22, 2020 | 36 Comments

One of the unexpected outcomes of the Covid-19 shutdown/quarantine has been the widespread turn to homeschooling. Parents are being asked en masse to become intimately involved (again) with the education their children. For some parents, it means making sure that their children . . . Continue reading →

Did Ursinus Teach Final Salvation Through Works?

by on April 21, 2020

Zacharias Ursinus (1534–83) was the principal author of the Heidelberg Catechism (1563). He was responsible for perhaps as much as 70% of the catechism, though the two source documents that he created, from which much of the catechism was formed, drew from many sources (including Luther), so the source criticism of the catechism is challenging. For more on the background of the catechism see Lyle Bierma et al ed., An Introduction to the Heidelberg Catechism: Sources, History, and Theology (2005) and J. I. Good, Good, The Heidelberg Catechism in Its Newest Light ( Philadelphia, PA: Publication and Sunday School Board of the Reformed Church in the United States, 1914). Continue reading →

The Reasons Christians Do Good Works

by on April 21, 2020 | 1 Comment

The Heidelberg Catechism is in three parts: Law, Gospel, and Sanctification or Guilt, Grace, and Gratitude. This is not an artificial interpretation of the Catechism nor is it an artificial arrangement of the Christian faith. Question 2 outlines the Catechism for us: Continue reading →

Saved Through Good Works?

by on April 20, 2020 | 1 Comment

In Reformed theology the noun salvation is typically used in two ways. Sometimes it is used as a synonym for justification. When used this way it does not include sanctification since, according to the Reformed confession, justification is a declarative act of God whereby he credits (imputes) to sinners the perfect, active and suffering righteousness of Christ so that it is as if those sinners to whom Christ’s righteousness has been so imputed are considered to have themselves accomplished personally all the Christ did for them as their substitute. Further, we say that this benefit is received through faith alone (sola fide) defined as trusting, resting in, and receiving Christ and his righteousness. We confess that both the imputation of Christ’s righteousness and faith as the receiving instrument are nothing but God’s free gifts. Hence we attribute all of this to God’s favor (grace) alone. The slogan for this is sola gratia, by grace alone. Continue reading →